


He has a pause button

by supercrunch



Category: Free!
Genre: Also Crack, Fluff, M/M, Rin's ancestry is a little questionable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 09:23:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2186361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercrunch/pseuds/supercrunch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Studies have found that touching a shark's snout can cause it to halt mid-motion and not attack.</p><p>Turns out Rin isn't any different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He has a pause button

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: _So you know how sharks have a lot of sensory systems concentrated in their noses, and how some can be put into a daze by rubbing their noses? Well bopping Rin's nose can put him into a daze too! A little tap to the tip of his nose and no matter what he's doing he just freezes for a second._

i. Nitori

 

The first time’s an accident.

There’s a burrito on Rin’s desk that doesn’t belong there. Where it belongs is in Nitori’s stomach, but it hasn’t reached its destination yet. It probably never will, actually, because Rin’s holding it hostage and yelling something about how his books shouldn’t be jalapeno-flavoured. Nitori doesn’t see a problem with having your belongings smelling a little like Mexican perfection, but he wisely decides to keep his mouth shut because he doubts his swim captain will be terribly impressed. Besides, even if Rin does eventually relinquish his poor burrito, it’s unlikely he’s actually going to be able to eat it because it’s been left unrefrigerated all weekend. Nitori had come over to watch Breaking Bad on Friday (with Japanese subtitles, for his sake), and forgotten his dinner. Rin hadn’t noticed when he went home for the weekend, and Sousuke, knowing him, hadn’t said anything because he was probably waiting to see how long it would take for Nitori to get in trouble.

“I have told you _so many times_ not to leave perishables lying around. That’s how you get vermin. Disregarding the fact that this is _my_ room and _my_ desk, do you really want roaches in your food? Do you know would happen if you ate a burrito with roaches hiding in it?”

“I’d get extra protein?” Nitori hazards, and he has a point, probably, except it’s apparently the wrong answer because Rin immediately tries to head-butt him.

He dodges but Rin chases and Sousuke is laughing at them from the top bunk, which is excessively unhelpful to Nitori at the moment, so he does the first thing that comes to mind; he flails like a coked-up windmill.

He manages to get Rin in the nose. There isn’t much of an impact, but they all go silent; Nitori in horror at having punched his role model, Rin probably from the shock of being hit in the face, and Sousuke because he’s laughing so hard he’s wheezing.

A thousand apologies are waiting to fall from his lips, but Nitori doesn’t get to say them. Rin has gone cross-eyed and quiet. They blink at each other for a good twenty seconds before Ai realizes that his senpai may be having some form of absence seizure and that if someone were to come in at that moment, they would find Rin in a daze and Sousuke hyperventilating and there would probably be quite a bit of trouble explaining _that_ away.

“Buh,” says Rin.

“Asdfghjkl,” says Sousuke.

Nitori bows, takes his burrito and leaves.

* * *

 

ii. Nagisa

 

The second time, it’s more of an experiment.

Nagisa has, for some reason Nitori hasn’t figured out yet, decided that they are now friends. He makes it a point to text him every week, and even includes Nitori in one of their group IMs. Ai isn’t _unhappy_ about this, per se, but if he had to put it into words, he’d say that while dealing with Rin is sometimes like trying to stay in the eye of a storm, dealing with Nagisa is like being thrown around in a tornado that doesn’t have a safe spot and keeps changing topics every twenty seconds. It’s exhausting, and Nitori can never find enough things to talk about.

Which is why he resorts to telling Nagisa all about the Rin incident one Tuesday night. He means to play it off as a joke, ending with a witty recollection of how he had mourned the passing of his admittedly elderly burrito, but Nagisa, characteristically, is more interested in the gory details of their physical encounter. Nitori, only slightly put out, exaggerates a little bit to make it sound more exciting.

Predictably, the entirety of the Iwatobi Swim Club finds out within two days. Even more predictably, Nagisa decides to test it out for himself.

 

(You have to try out all the variables, Rei says.)

 

The next joint swim practice rolls around, and Rin’s in the middle of walking the first-years through their warm-up when Nagisa sidles up to him and smacks him solidly on the ass.

He wants to re-create the conditions of the Incident. Rin had been angry the last time, so Nagisa makes him angry the fastest way he knows how. This time, Rei is close at hand, both to instruct him in the proper ways of doing science and to take the flak for him in case Rin tries to beat him up.

The Samezuka swim captain stumbles, squawks, and turns two shades lighter than his hair. The others go entirely silent, and Rin turns around very slowly.

“ _What_ ,” he hisses, “was that for?”

Nagisa puts his hand over Rin’s face. Rin freezes.

He doesn’t move for a while. The other swimmers, sans Haru, who isn’t interested in leaving the pool, gather around to see if he is still breathing. Nagisa’s palm is, of course, far too small to cover Rin’s face entirely, so they can still see him going cross-eyed trying to focus on what’s attached itself to his face.

Experimentally, Nagisa withdraws his hand. It takes a little moment for Rin to reboot, but then he’s furious, ready to bark at them all for being idiots. He is silenced once again by Nagisa’s palm. The crowd gasps.

“Fascinating! How big is the affected area?” Rei asks.

Nagisa shrugs and takes his hand away. They wait a few seconds until Rin is able to bare his teeth at them once more. Then, he replaces the missing touch, except this time he pokes specifically at Rin’s forehead.

Rin is silent once again, but this time it’s because he’s glaring hard enough to make the others shrink back and shuffle away.

Gou emerges from the bathrooms to see what all the fuss is about. What she expects is that her older brother has somehow managed to start another fight, which is unsurprising considering he has the social aptitude of a banana slug. What she sees is Rei, Nagisa and that kid with the stag beetles poking Rin in various parts of the face.

Rin is clearly about two seconds away from biting someone, so Gou does the sensible thing and hits them all, including Rin, and tells them to get their asses in the pool.

“But _Gou_ ,” Nagisa whines when they’re packing up later, “we found the coolest thing! Did you know Rin gets all weird when you touch his face?”

“Anyone would get weird with _you_ touching them,” Gou retorts. “I feel like I’m going to get some sort of STD just looking at you.”

“Just because I went home with those two guys once-”

“I do not care,” their manager silences him with a towel to the face. “And if it interests you that much, my brother only short-circuits when you bop him on the nose. Touching him anywhere else is only going to get you hit.”

Nagisa says nothing after that, helping to pack up their swim gear and not trying to attach himself to Aichiro’s back when everyone’s done with the showers.

He does, however, slap Rin’s ass once more for good measure. While Rin’s recovering from the shock (and the immediately nose-poke that follows), Nagisa runs.

Sousuke laughs so hard he falls over. Rin bellows at him across the pool to shut up.

* * *

 

iii. Rei

 

When Rei finds a piece of information he doesn’t understand, he doesn’t let it go.

He keeps asking until he gets a satisfactory answer. He researches until he knows the basics, and then he keeps going until he knows all he needs to know. He tackled pole vaulting this way, as he did with ballet and later swimming. It’s also how he tackles the question of Rin’s nose.

It had taken about four seconds for Rin to recover from Nagisa’s prodding during the joint practice. According to Ai-chan-san’s story, however, he’d had enough time to vacate Rin’s room without getting scathed (possibly about thirty seconds, allowing for a pause before the escape). The effect of Ai-chan-san’s touch had evidently been more potent than Nagisa’s.

There are a few possibilities Rei can think of. Firstly, Nagisa’s touch could be less meaningful to Rin, seeing as he spends more time with his former roommate than he does with Nagisa. That being said, Rin’s affliction appears to be purely physical rather than emotional, so option one is unlikely. Secondly, Nagisa had been fairly gentle, while Ai-chan-san had not. Thirdly, time intervals had been different. Rin had probably not had anyone touching his nose for a long time before Ai-chan-san, meaning he might have been more sensitive to it. When Nagisa’s turn came around, he may have lost some of that feeling.

According to Gou, the condition had never been serious enough for them to consider getting it checked out. A quick Google search yields few results; apparently there are no such diseases that affect a person’s mobility when their noses are touched. The only similar information that Rei finds is that sharks can apparently go into sensory overload when their noses are rubbed, but he dismisses this as irrelevant. Rin may have very sharp teeth, but he’s not a bipedal fish-person.

The only option left to him is to continue tests on his own. Rin’s probably suspicious by now, though, so subtlety is key.

It starts fairly innocently; Rei accidentally taps his Chemistry notes against Rin’s face while he’s gesturing through explaining a concept to Nagisa. Rin pauses for a mere second before he accepts Rei’s apology, and Rei records his observations under the pretext of solving another question. The next step is to initiate human touch, so Rei grazes Rin’s nose lightly while picking a leaf out of his hair when they’re hanging out in Haruka’s garden. This time Rin goes static for two seconds, and Rei files this information to be written down in his notebook later.

Brushing a breadcrumb away causes a three second pause, and a full-on ‘accidental’ jab in the face causes four. Pinching in imitation of a CPR nose-hold makes Rin freeze for seven seconds, and an impromptu demonstration of a self-defense palm jab gives enough time for Rei to walk ten steps away and tie his shoelaces before running for cover from Rin’s eventual outrage.

Rin doesn’t react the same way to touches on other appendages, although he does seem to have ticklish ears and feet. The area right below his nose is less sensitive and produces a muted effect, but his forehead does not do anything at all. He doesn’t appear to have much recollection of having his nose touched; in fact, it seems as though Rin isn’t aware of his condition at all. Rei doesn’t understand any of it, and his friends aren’t particularly helpful, but that isn’t about to stop him from making a medical breakthrough in his teens.

He can only curse himself for not noticing this sooner; it would have been much easier to conduct his experiments during their one-on-one swimming lessons. Now that he’s learnt all the strokes, they don’t spend as much time together. He remedies this by coming up with excuses for them to see each other. Buying two tickets to a movie on days when he knows Nagisa is busy, delivering food to Samezuka from Gou, staying behind to talk during joint practices. He realizes, of course, that his behaviour is outlandish, and it’s very difficult to keep escalating the physical contact without arousing suspicion. However, Rei’s desire to understand Rin’s strange affliction outweighs his sense of propriety, and so the pages in his notebook continue to fill.

If he’s starting to get a little obsessed, nobody mentions it.

* * *

 

iv. Rei (again)

 

Eventually, Rin confronts him.

If he’s going to be honest with himself, Rei had expected them to come to blows much sooner. They aren’t as close as they are to the others, having only just met last year, and although they’re on friendly terms, they are by no means familiar. Rin is a private person, much like Rei, and he can’t take too kindly to being manhandled at every opportunity.

They stand under a tree in the courtyard of Samezuka. Rei recalls, dully, that their first encounter had been somewhat similar. More emotionally charged and less awkward silence, but similar. Rei has an agenda that Rin has no idea about, and Rin’s about to challenge him about it.

“So, those cookies were really good,” Rin starts, palm massaging nervous circles into the back of his own neck. Rei nods, half in thanks and half to affirm that _yes, of course his cooking is sublime._ Rin glances at him from under his eyelashes and worries his lip.

“You must have put a lot of effort into them,” he says, and Rei looks down to see what it is that Rin finds so interesting about the ground. Rin doesn’t notice this, and instead continues talking as though he is not presenting confusing visual signs for Rei to decipher.

“I really appreciate them. And it’s cool that we’ve been spending so much time together, and I just wanted to talk to you about some stuff that I’ve noticed. Thanks for coming all the way out here, by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” says Rei glumly. He can see where this is going. Rin’s figured it out. He knows Rei has been doing tests on him, and he’s going to ask him to stop. Rin’s nose will continue to be forever shrouded in mystery.

“My answer is yes,” says Rin.

It takes a little bit of time for Rei’s brain to catch up with his ears. “Pardon?”

Rin is examining the sky now, ears beginning to turn a fetching shade of pink. “I, uhm. I’ll go out with you. Since you’re a cool guy, and I really owe you a lot after what you did last summer, and you’re cute and all, so. Well. Yeah.”

“…what?”

“I can tell you’ve been coming on to me,” Rin rolls his eyes. “I’m not dumb.”

 _Yes, you are_ , Rei thinks.

Rin appears to take Rei’s silence as surprise, because he breaks into a nervous smile and finally makes eye contact. “So, uhm I like flowers and running by the beach, and stupid corny crap like that.”

So does Rei, actually but he doesn’t voice this. Instead, he considers his situation for a second, and then he mirrors Rin’s smile. It isn’t difficult at all to reach over and kiss him when nobody’s looking.

Rin immediately brings his hands up to hide his face in embarrassment, although he does shuffle close enough for Rei to wrap his arms around his back. “I’m admittedly surprised at this outcome,” Rei says, “but I’m quite delighted. You’re very attractive, and I don’t only mean aesthetically.” He’s not lying, either. He’d have to be blind not to notice Rin’s looks, but his tenacity and dedication are even more endearing. Plus, if anyone’s going to motivate Rei to do better at better at perfecting his stroke, it’s Rin. The world can only be improved by a pair of butterflies, Rei thinks.

“I’m not easy to deal with,” Rin mumbles into Rei’s shoulder.

“Neither am I,” replies Rei honestly.

They make plans to go out on Saturday, huddled as they are under a balding tree with barely any cover from prying eyes. Rei walks Rin back to his room and isn’t even bothered by Sousuke’s six foot shadow looming by the door. Fingers still interlaced, they say their goodbyes, and Rin tilts his head sideways to allow Rei to kiss him again.

Rei does, except this time he aims for the nose.

As expected, Rin stills completely. The dazed look on his face contrasts with his burning cheeks, and Rei would laugh if he weren’t already timing the length of the pause. He manages to count a mental absence of thirty-seven seconds before Sousuke herds him out the door so he can slap some sense back into his roommate in private. Rei grins and heads for the station, ignoring the glances from curious strangers wanting to know what he’s so happy about.

He’s not even angry about the aborted experiment, because on the train back to his house, Rei revels in the knowledge that access to Rin’s nose is going to be a _lot easier_ if they’re dating.

And, well. It’s not like Rei hadn’t wanted a boyfriend, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't actually sure whether or not to tag this as Rin/Rei. I mean, it wasn't meant to be a huge plot twist or anything, but I did think it would be a cute surprise endgame. Putting Rei's name right after Rin was a hint, I guess?
> 
> I like the idea of big buff Sharktooth Matsuoka getting all vacant when you poke his nose way too much to be sorry.
> 
> ...and he doesn't even fucking notice.


End file.
